QUO presents projectQ Motherboard

projectQ motherboard promises to boot any OS in under 10 seconds

A company known as QUO recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund a motherboard designed to run any operating system you choose right out of the box – including Mac OS X. It’s all possible thanks to a custom bit of firmware that can boot any OS in under 10 seconds.

Z77MX-QUO-AOS, otherwise known as projectQ, was created by Gigabyte USA as an exclusive OEM project so it’s not like you’re getting some generic board. It conforms to the MicroATX form factor and includes a number of rear I/O connectors: Firewire 400 and 800, Thunderbolt, DVI, HDMI, USB 3.0, USB 2.0 and Intel LAN.

The company said they have perfected the motherboard and have tested the BIOS / UEFI with developers in China, England, Romania and the US. The team plans to continue to support the BIOS / UEFI after release and will ship with a three year warranty.

The board itself is built using Intel’s Z77 chipset for Ivy Bridge processors but if you aren’t interested in building your own system, QUO will take care of that as well. The company is also offering Limited Edition models complete with custom chassis (at least one is based on a SilverStone design) starting at $1,199 and going up to around $2,500 for a fully decked out rig.

A pledge of $219 will guarantee you’ll be one of the first to own a projectQ motherboard. As of writing, 90 backers have pledged more than $26,000 of the $87,000 needed to get the board into production. The campaign runs until April 1, 2013 so there’s still plenty of time to make it happen. The first 100 pledges will receive the first batch of boards within six weeks, we’re told.